you make it feel like christmas
by splendidlyimperfect
Summary: Sting and Ryos spend their first Christmas with their foster son, Noah, and end up with some big news for their family. / **part of the 'only hope for me is you' universe, see profile for links**
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: Set in the "only hope for me is you" universe, ten years after "let's hear it for the boy" and three years before "we are unbreakable"_

_Cross-posted on AO3 as splendidlyimperfect_  
_ Find me on tumblr as splendidlyimperfect_

* * *

"Okay, little man, I know you can do it."

Sting crouched down on the floor, hands out in front of him, wide smile directed at the little blond boy who stared at him seriously from a foot or so away. The boy's chubby fingers were curled tightly around Ryos', and he wobbled unsteadily on the carpet.

"C'mon, Noah," Sting said softly, beckoning with both hands. "C'mere."

Noah frowned, and for a second Sting thought he might start crying, but then he looked up at Ryos and took an uncertain step forward.

"There you go!" Sting grinned as Ryos wriggled one finger out of Noah's grasp, encouraging him to move forward on his own.

Noah took a small step, then another, and when Ryos finally pried his other finger from Noah's grasp, Noah stumbled forward for a second on his own before tumbling into Sting's arms.

"Good job, buddy!" Sting said, pecking Noah on the cheek and brushing the blond curls out of his face. "Pretty soon you're gonna be tearing around here like a little tornado, making messes everywhere, huh?"

"Mess," Noah agreed, pressing his sticky hands against Sting's cheeks. He reached for Sting's earring, but Sting moved his fingers away gently, then stood up and shifted Noah to his hip.

"Mess, indeed," he said as Ryos moved over and wrapped an arm around Sting's waist. "Isn't that right, Ryos?"

"Always," Ryos said seriously, and a smile quirked at the corner of his lips as Noah giggled and buried his face in Sting's neck. The sound sent a warm flush through Sting and he hugged Noah tightly. It had taken so long to get him to laugh – four months ago, at his second birthday party, he'd smiled at Natsu for the first time since Ryos and Sting had started fostering him.

"He's very taken with you," Ryos said, kissing Sting on the cheek and brushing his fingers through Noah's hair.

"Feeling's mutual," Sting said, kissing Noah's head.

"He even looks like you," Ryos murmured, then covered up a yawn.

"We are very handsome, aren't we?" Sting teased, laughing when Ryos pinched him. "Oi," he says, turning and kissing Ryos. "You're handsome too, promise."

Ryos rolled his eyes. "Well, I think this handsome little boy needs to take a bath," he said. Noah pouted as Ryos tugged at his t-shirt that was stained with spaghetti and chocolate milk.

Sting grinned, taking Noah under the arms and lifting him up above his head. "You hear that, bumblebee?" he asked, scrunching up his nose at Noah, who squealed with glee as Sting tossed him up in the air. "Let's get your stinky little butt into the bath."

* * *

Nearly an hour of giggling and splashing later, Sting had Noah wrestled into his pajamas and sitting next to the pile of books that never seemed to end up back on the shelf. Noah grabbed one of them and held it up expectantly.

"'Little Yellow Bee,' huh?" Sting said, scooping up Noah and the book and settling into the rocking chair. Noah yawned, curling up and resting his head on Sting's chest. Sting kissed the top of his head, then opened the book. "'The garden is full of colors to see… greens, reds, and purples, and…'"

"Bee!" Noah exclaimed, pointing at the picture.

"That's right," Sting said. "What color's the bee?"

Noah frowned at the picture for a moment, then brightened and answered, "that."

Sting laughed and flipped the page. He knew the speech therapist was concerned about Noah's lack of vocabulary – by two, he should know more than the twenty or so words that he could say. Sting tried not to worry about it, though. Noah had enough trauma to work through that learning colors wasn't high on his list of priorities.

As soon as the book was done Noah grabbed another one – a toddler version of 'The Night Before Christmas.' "Are you excited for Christmas tomorrow?" Sting asked when they were done reading it. Noah frowned. "We're going to my mom and dad's house, remember?"

Noah nodded uncertainly. He still wasn't completely comfortable around Sting's parents.

"Gray and Natsu are going to be there," Sting added, and Noah immediately brightened, touching his hair in the gesture they'd come to recognize as his way of referring to Natsu. "That's right, I'm sure he'll play with you all afternoon. And my dad told me there would be cookies."

Noah sat up in Sting's lap suddenly, expression serious. "What's up?" Sting asked, running his fingers through Noah's damp curls. "You wanna go say goodnight to Ryos?"

Noah nodded, then looked at Sting curiously again before touching his chest and asking, "Daddy?"

Sting sighed. "Your dad's…" He hesitated, uncertain how to explain to Noah that his biological father was in prison. Noah hadn't seen him in over a year, and even once he was out of jail, Garret wasn't allowed anywhere near Noah. Sting was surprised Noah even remembered him. "He can't come for Christmas, I'm sorry sweetheart."

Noah shook his head, frowning. He put both hands on Sting's chest and pushed him gently, then repeated, "Daddy."

Sting froze and stared down at Noah, whose bright blue eyes were wide and serious. "Daddy," Noah said again.

"Oh, bumblebee," Sting whispered, wrapping both arms around Noah and holding him tight.

He could already feel tears welling up in his eyes – he and Ryos had talked for a long time about what Noah would call them, especially once they'd decided to go ahead with the adoption. They'd both agreed to let him choose, but had introduced the concepts of 'Daddy' and 'Papa.' So far, he'd preferred to just point at them.

"Yeah, buddy," Sting whispered, wiping at the tears that were spilling down his face now. "I'm Daddy." He kissed Noah's forehead, letting out a wet, emotional laugh that had Noah looking up at him with concern.

"Sad?" Noah asked, and Sting shook his head.

"No, sometimes we cry when we're happy, remember?" Sting managed, sniffling and rubbing his face with the sleeve of his shirt. "I'm happy, promise."

"'kay," Noah said.

"What's wrong?" Ryos appeared in the bedroom doorway, face drawn in concern when he saw Sting's teary face. "What happened?" He moved over and knelt down next to the rocking chair, running his hand over Sting's knee and up Noah's back.

"Nothing," Sting mumbled, still unable to stop crying. "'s fine, 'm just being ridiculous, he just—"

"Daddy!" Noah said brightly, pointing to Sting and giving Ryos a shy smile. Ryos' expression flipped from concerned to adoring, and he gripped Sting's hand tightly. Noah reached out for Ryos, grabbing his arm and asking, "Pa?"

Ryos' eyes widened, and Sting felt somewhat better about the messy tear tracks on his own cheeks when he saw Ryos start to cry too.

"Yeah," Ryos said softly as Noah patted his hand. "Yeah, Papa."

"Daddy, Papa," Noah announced, then yawned, rubbing at his eyes.

"We love you so much, sweetheart," Sting said softly. Those two tiny words made everything worth it – the sleepless nights, struggles with the speech therapist, Noah's nightmares and meltdowns and angry frustration.

Noah reached out toward the crib and Sting stood up, pressing one last kiss to Noah's cheek before settling him down in bed. Ryos scooped up a small stuffed dragon from its hiding spot under the bed and handed it to Noah, who made a pleased sound and closed his eyes.

"Good night, my love," Ryos said as they both backed out of the room and turned off the lights. "Sweet dreams."

* * *

As soon as they were down the stairs, Sting let out a shaky breath and blinked hard, trying to stem the tears that were still falling. "God, I don't even know why I'm crying," he said.

"'cause you always cry when you're happy," Ryos said, pulling Sting close and kissing his temple. "You're so good with him. I love watching you be a dad, you're amazing."

"That's not helping me stop crying," Sting mumbled into Ryos' shoulder. Ryos laughed gently, running his hand up and down Sting's back.

"You don't have to stop," he said. "It's a lot to feel."

Sting sighed, wrapping his arms around Ryos' waist. "I love him so much," he said. "I never thought... I didn't know it could be like this. I just want to be everything for him, I want to give him all the things he didn't have before."

"You are," Ryos reassured him. "He's safe now, and loved, and happy."

"I know, I just think about... sometimes..." A memory of the first time they'd met Noah surfaced in Sting's mind. Noah had refused to look at either of them and had spent most of the time curled up in the corner of the social worker's room against the wall. After several meetings Sting had been able to convince Noah to sit next to him while they read a book, but it had taken nearly a month for Noah to let either of them touch him.

"I know," Ryos said, and Sting could hear the edge of tears in his voice, too. "He went through so much, and it was so unfair. But think about how much he's changed with us. He's happy now – he laughs and plays with you, and he's starting to walk, and he's going to be okay. We all are."

Sting nodded, swallowing down the lump in his throat. He pulled back from Ryos, taking a deep breath and rubbing his face with the sleeve of his sweater.

"We're good parents," he said, grabbing Ryos' hands and squeezing.

"We are." Ryos leaned in and kissed Sting's nose, then turned and nodded at the stockings that were laid out on the back of the couch. Lillian, Sting's mom, had made the ones for Sting and Ryos, but Sting had taught himself to sew in order to make one for Noah – bright red and white stripes with his name in large letters across it.

"C'mon," Ryos said, pulling Sting toward the couch. "It's Noah's first real Christmas – let's make it the best one we can."


	2. Chapter 2

Ryos woke up to the smell of coffee and the sound of Sting's voice outside the bedroom door.

"C'mon, bumblebee," Sting said quietly, and then the door creaked open, spilling soft light across the bed. "There you go, let's go get Papa."

_Papa. _Ryos swallowed down the sudden lump in his throat at the word and kept his eyes closed, pretending to still be asleep. There was a dip at the end of the bed, then little hands poking Ryos' face.

"Good morning, sweetheart," Ryos said, cracking open one eye and peeking up at Noah. His curls were wild and sticking out in every direction, and he already had a smear of raspberry jam on one cheek. "Looks like you had breakfast without me, hey?"

Noah didn't say anything, just gave Ryos a shy smile and tugged at the sleeve of his shirt. Sting sat down next to Ryos on the bed, kissing Ryos' cheek as he pushed himself up and gratefully accepted the coffee Sting handed him.

"We would have let you sleep in later," Sting said apologetically as Ryos yawned. "Noah saw the stockings, though."

Noah pointed to his own sock and then back to the bedroom door, and Ryos smiled fondly at him. "Well, we'd better go see what's in them then, hey?"

Noah wriggled back toward the edge of the bed, looking down at the floor and then gesturing at Sting to pick him up.

"Up?" Sting asked as he stood up and reached out for Noah. "How 'bout you try walking again? Show Papa how we got here?" He lifted Noah up and set him down on the floor, carefully letting go of one of his hands. Noah looked up at Sting with wide eyes, then grinned and let go, stumbling unsteadily out into the hallway.

"He didn't take long to get the hang of that," Ryos commented, standing up and wrapping an arm around Sting's waist. "Your mom's going to be thrilled – you'll have to text her to put away all the breakable stuff."

Sting wiped at his face and Ryos laughed gently, leaning in and kissing his cheek. "Sorry," Sting mumbled. "'m gonna be a mess all day."

"Don't be sorry," Ryos murmured, kissing Sting's cheek. "You know Natsu's gonna cry, too."

Noah was more interested in the stocking itself than what was inside it – some candy and a new book, as well as a squishy octopus plush. He spent the rest of the morning taking out the toys and putting them back into the stocking, then giggling when Sting and Ryos pretended not to know where they'd went.

Eventually, after a nap and a few too many Christmas candies, they ended up at Sting's parents' house. Gray and Natsu's car was already in the driveway when they arrived and Noah lit up when he saw it, pressing his hands against the car window.

"Hey, monster!" Natsu said as Sting wrestled Noah out of his car seat, then carried him to the front door. Natsu leaned the shovel he'd been using against the wall and reached out for Noah, who giggled and wrapped his arms around Natsu's neck.

"How was the morning?" Natsu asked as he shifted Noah onto his hip. The question was directed at Sting as Natsu pulled him into a one-armed hug.

"Not as messy as we were expecting," Ryos said as he hugged Natsu as well.

Noah tugged at the collar of Natsu's jacket and pointed down at the snow that he'd shoveled into a pile by the front walk. Magnolia didn't usually get much, even in December, but it had snowed just enough overnight to dust everything with a festive white glow.

"Snow angels?" Natsu asked, grinning and setting Noah down on the snow pile. Noah laughed and flopped onto his back, spreading his arms out and kicking his feet. "That's more of a snow monster than an angel," Natsu laughed, plopping down next to Noah. "Appropriate for you, though."

"Too!" Noah exclaimed, tugging on Natsu's sleeve until he flopped back into the snow and spread his arms out. Noah laughed, sitting up and grabbing a handful of snow to drop on Natsu's chest.

"Uncle Gray!" Natsu cried, trying to keep in laughter, "Help! I'm being attacked by the snow monster!"

"I dunno," Gray teased, coming around the corner from the back yard and crossing his arms over his chest. "I think I should probably let him eat you." Noah grinned at Gray and grabbed another handful of snow, this time putting it in Natsu's hair.

Sting's hand found its way into Ryos' and squeezed tightly, and when Ryos looked over, he could tell that Sting was trying his best not to cry. "He's so happy," Sting said softly.

"I am, too," Ryos murmured, kissing Sting's cheek.

"Up?" Ryos turned back to see Noah pointing at Gray, but when Natsu reached over to help him, Ryos shook his head.

"Let him do it," he said. "Go on, Noah. Go see Uncle Gray."

Noah looked at Natsu, then back at Gray, then slowly pushed himself to his feet and wobbled for a second before grinning and toddling across the lawn toward Gray. Gray crouched down and caught him as he stumbled over the snow, and he wrapped his arms around Gray's neck.

"Told you Natsu would cry," Ryos teased as Natsu sat up and rubbed at his face.

"Shut up," Natsu grumbled, standing up and brushing the snow off his pants. "When did he start walking?"

"Last night," Ryos said. "We would have called you, but Sting thought it would be a nice surprise."

"Daddy!" Noah shouted as he let go of Gray and turned back to Sting and Ryos. He tugged on Gray's mitten, pointing at Sting and repeating, "Daddy."

"You're just full of surprises today, little man," Natsu said, and Ryos could see the look of adoration on his face when Noah let go of Gray and walked back over to him. Natsu scooped Noah up into his arms and kissed his forehead, grinning when Noah rubbed their noses together.

"C'mon," Ryos said, tugging on Sting's hand. "Let's go see your parents."

* * *

Dinner was chaotic. Lillian, Sting's mom, cooked enough food for twice as many people, and by the time the meal was over, Noah was a mess of cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes. Natsu offered to give him a bath, and Ryos and Wes headed downstairs to set up the crib while Gray and Sting helped Lillian with the dishes.

Sting listened to the two of them chat about Lillian's planned renovations for the kitchen as he dried the dishes. The room was filled with a warm glow from the Christmas tree in the living room, and the remnants of everyone's stockings were strewn across the couch. The activity board that Natsu and Gray had made for Noah leaned against one of the walls, while the rest of his toys from Wes and Lillian were pushed to the corner of the room.

Sting didn't realize he was crying until Gray took his hand.

"What's wrong?" Gray asked.

Sting shook his head, wiping at his face and squeezing Gray's hand. "It's fine—I'm not… it's okay. We just…" He took a deep breath, looking over Gray's shoulder at the picture above the fireplace. It was of him and Ryos, both of them gazing adoringly at Noah, who was looking seriously at the camera.

"Hey, love." Ryos appeared at the entrance to the kitchen, with Natsu and Wes not far behind them. "He's asleep."

"What's going on?" Wes asked, frowning. Natsu grinned at Sting from behind Ryos – he and Gray already knew, but Sting had wanted to wait for Christmas to tell his parents.

"We got a date for the hearing," Sting said, looking over at his mom. "End of March. Kylie signed the paperwork."

"You mean—"

"We're adopting Noah," Ryos said, reaching out and taking Sting's other hand.

"Oh, sweetheart," Lillian said, pulling Sting into a tight hug and pressing a kiss to his cheek. Sting could feel her trying to hold in her tears and he laughed wetly, hugging her back. "I can't believe my baby is a dad."

"We're so proud of you," Wes said, wrapping an arm around Ryos and pulling Sting into the embrace. He motioned for Natsu to join them and for a moment they all held each other in the kitchen, laughing and sharing in the joy.

Sting closed his eyes, breathing shakily as relief flowed through him. Kylie, Noah's birth mother, had originally intended to reunite with him, but two weeks ago she had informed the social worker that she was willing to sign the paperwork that let Sting and Ryos become Noah's legal parents instead. They were keeping the adoption open with her – tentatively, if she could get clean and be a safe person in his life – but now the little boy they'd been taking care of for nearly a year now was going to be theirs. Forever.

"I'm going to be a grandma," Lillian said, wiping at her face as tears streamed down her cheeks.

"You were already a grandma," Ryos said gently. "You're all already his family – you have been since we first brought him home. This just makes it official."

"Well, I think we have another bottle of champagne in the freezer," Wes said, finally pulling away from the group hug. Sting nearly started crying again at the sight of tears in his father's eyes, too. "I think we need to celebrate."

As everyone crowded out of the kitchen and back to the living room to find the champagne glasses, Ryos grabbed Sting's hands and pulled him close. "You okay?" he asked gently.

"Yeah," Sting said, laughing through his tears. "Yeah, I am." He pulled Ryos into a soft kiss, sweet and gentle and full of the promise of new things. "I love you," he whispered. "Merry Christmas."


End file.
